Houston (CBS HOUSTON) – Following Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Ed Reed stated that the team, in certain situations was “outplayed and outcoached” On Tuesday, Ed Reed is out of a job.

The Texans made the decision to release the 9-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer less than 48 hours after he made a light but public criticism of the coaching staff following a loss.

Accountability seems to be executed very strangely around this team. Off the field transgressions, as slight as they may be, are terminable offenses, but poor play on the field is tolerated.

Let’s be fair, Case Keenum never gets a chance to start if Matt Schaub doesn’t get injured. Schaub was going to be given every opportunity, deserved or not. Whether Schaub got old quickly, is still hurting, or whatever may be the case for his diminished performance, it took his inability to take the field to force Head Coach Gary Kubiak’s hand to make a decision.

Derek Newton may have potential, but this season he has been one of the worst tackles in football. He grades out negatively just about every week. He’s been an absolute turnstile in pass protection. He’s still the starter.

Randy Bullock hasn’t just been the worst kicker in the NFL this season, he’s been the worst kicker in the NFL in over 30 years. He has cost the Texans several games this season with bad missed field goals. The team brought in veterans following the team’s Week 9 loss to the Colts, like Shayne Graham and Neil Rackers, a game in which Bullock missed 3 FGs. Yet Bullock is still the team’s kicker.

There’s plenty more players who can be looked at as guys who have underperformed this season, but the song remains the same. Poor play on the field doesn’t result in losing your job. There’s no accountability for poor performance.

However, smoking a cigar in a hotel room gets your sent home and released, like Willie Jefferson, Sam Montgomery, and Cierre Wood. Now, there’s the mildest of coaching criticism getting Ed Reed sent home permanently.

To say the team was outplayed and outcoached in certain situations when the team lost its 3rd straight close game with failures in key moments isn’t exactly earth-shattering. Reed never mentioned anyone by name, didn’t go out of his way to embarrass anyone specifically. It was as pedestrian a criticism as a player of Reed’s stature could make.

Yet Reed finds himself on the unemployment line today as a direct result of it.

Its surprisingly petty for any organization to dump a player for criticism as light as what Reed said. It makes the team look awfully petty.

Wade Phillips, the interim head coach and defensive coordinator who made the decision to make Reed a backup, was clearly not pleased about being asked about Reed’s comments at his press conference Monday.

Phillips said he preferred to keep those things “in house”. Reed was later quoted as saying he “spoke the truth” Sunday afternoon. A day later, Reed was removed from the house.

Its disturbing that what Reed said, generic criticism of players and coaches, gets a player released but playing terribly doesn’t get players off the field. The accountability on this team is very strange, indeed.

Soon the Texans will have another chance to demonstrate how performance is irrelevant as long as you tow the party line, when the season ends and the coaches get reviewed. We will see how important performance is then, too.